routine service yesterday, all was going well until he popped out with the comment 'your front brakes will need replacing in about 2k'

'what, the pads?' i reply

'no, dics and pads i'm afraid, they haven't done bad to get to 40k miles.'

to which my comment was 'actually they've only done 20k as you changed the dics and pads under warrenty'

'oh, well they need doing' service guy backs him up, but says the discs need changing before the pads do

now, am i led to believe from that, that a set of discs will wear out quicker than the pads? i think not!

babbling a bit, but i went out to check this 'wear' on the dics and on both sides(checked with a vernier) i've got a 1.6mm lip on the outside and a 2mm lip on the inside.

surely this can't be a near knackered disc? my mates had a bout a 5mm lip on his discs when he had his done.

in a nutshell, does this sound like they're trying to pull a fast one, or is there something i should know about brakes that i haven't understood?

ta

 

Pads lasting 20k is very good - most don't get near that.

Discs can prematurely wear under hard use and once they start to wear and score in a ceratin direction there is little for it but to replace them.

Don't get them done - get better ones elsewhere for the same cost.

Brian

 

new the thickness of the discs are 24mm the fact that you got a 2mm lip and a 1.6mm lip means your discs are about 20.4 mm thick the minimum thickness subaru recommends is 22mm so yep they sound worn out to me and as a rule when you change the discs you change the pads as well other wise you got old pads running on new discs and they will take ages so bed in and give any sort of grip.
and it also seems consistant that you had a set at 20k and now again at 40k i expect you will need another set at 60k as well.
it seems to me that from about 97my onwards their the quality of metal subaru used for discs seemed to go through the floor as i hardly had to change discs like i do now.

 

How did you manage to get them changed under warrenty, if you don't mind me asking?

Chris

 

cheers guys, i stand corrected it may seem.

i do find it a massive shock that you only have 1mm per side to wear before your discs are knackered, the bigger shock though is the pads have got less wear than the discs.

measured my discs today and they're at about 22.5 mm, so this backs up what the dealer says.

thing is, i've seen many cars (scoobs included) that have a massive lip on the disc, even a scoob i nearly bought had about a 4mm lip on it.
now looking at it i've got about 7mm thickness of disc to work with each side when they're new, surely reducing this thickness by half won't break down the structure of the metal?

just can't get my head around the fact i've got to have a total front brake set up change after only 20k and i've barely worn the ******* things at all!! and every 20k after that.

chris's scooby, they were done under warrenty coz they had hairline cracks in the disc.had to pay for a new set of pads though

 

hoskib,

My dealer told me that I'll need new pads by the next service in which time I will have covered about 40k miles - it will be the first brake pad change. Let's see if the disks will need replacing too.

I find the brake setup lasts much longer if you don't use them ;-)

 

sooby, i try not to use them myself mate
owned scoobs for 4 years now and this is the first time i've felt a bit pissed of with the running costs of it. ******* brakes every 20k, my boss in his mondeo got 120k out of his discs and he tows the trailer everywhere!

poxy swiss cheese japenese ****ty discs

 

I've had 40k out of mine. Pads lasted around 20k. Apart from regular daily driving, they only get used hard once or twice a month.

 

I think i'll upgrade the discs and pads when they need doing on the WR1.

My WRX, which had covered about 34000 miles had gone through 3 or 4 sets of pads and had a deep lip worn into the discs.

Chris

 

had my 10k service a couple of weeks ago ( STi8 ) and was told by the dealer that my pads were only 20% worn

 

Your not trying hard enough then!

 

hoskib,
If your discs are on 22.5 mm leave them untill your pads are worn out.

Deano.

 

 

 

this is what i'm getting at, did your dealer say your discs were worn? my mate had a lip of about 4mm before he changed his and his dealer had no problem leaving them that long before swapping the new ones on.

i really can't get my head around the fact that there's only 1mm of wear each side of your disc before they are fcuked. or that my discs have worn out before my pads, what are they made of? granite?

don't give a **** about changing pads, but discs that only last 20k? you're having a fookin laugh

 

No, not a word from the dealer. I've just been looking through my old bills and i definatly never had the discs done. Just seemingly endless pad changes!

Chris

 

definately gonna look at other options before handing over more cash to my dealer though!

cheers for all your replies

 

Just changed my pads... After 30k exactly... disks are fine...

Whatever for gods sake dont let the dealer do the change... you may as well drop your trousers as you walk in...


Dazza

 

oh **** no, i completely agree with you mate. i know a guy who is more than competant to work on my car for all the 'extas' i may want doing.

the dealer gets the service charge and i get a nice blue stamp in my book, that's as far as it goes.

my dealer seems ok, but i'm a suspicious git and i don't trust them as far as i can throw them

 

Hoskib - Join the club! I just had the 20k service on my 03WRX and was told I needed new front discs. Apparently had the same amount of wear as yours. I was equally gobsmacked/p*ssed off. It also needed new pads (they were only 10k old)!

Very bad month for me scoobwise:

£600 (service + pads + discs)
£400 (4x new tyres)
£160 (road tax)
£60 speeding fine + 3 points (pending)

Work is quiet + running costs like these = Scoob is going

 

I got a front set of ex-MY03 Discs for sale? They came off when my StopTechs went on.
They done 18000 miles, but lip is hardly noticable. I aint got owt to measure it with in other words! Will have to check them.

 

Erm............you kinda know if your discs need changing as you'll get tonnes of vibration through the front steering wheel - thats when I change the discs

Front pads should last circa 20k miles - the discs should be about twice that......... Certainly wouldn't change them just cos the dealer said so...........Jeez the amount of profit they make on them you have to wonder why they thought they needed changing

 

i asked my local dealer re the above,they basically said i have a lip on my discs but there are no cracks and should last another 10,000 miles before i get any juddering then it is time to replace them,i have an sti-27,000 miles.i reckon your dealer is trying to pull a fast one
martin